Bernard of Clairvaux

Patrick McGuire Brian

Description

In this intimate portrait of one of the Middle Ages' most consequential men, Brian Patrick McGuire delves into the life of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux to offer a refreshing interpretation that finds within this grand historical figure a deeply spiritual human being who longed for the reflective quietude of the monastery even as he helped shape the destiny of a church and a continent. Heresy and crusade, politics and papacies, theology and disputation shaped this astonishing man's life, and McGuire presents it all in a deeply informed and clear-eyed biography.Following Bernard from his birth in 1090 to his death in 1153 at the abbey he had founded four decades earlier, Bernard of Clairvaux reveals a life teeming with momentous events and spiritual contemplation, from Bernard's central roles in the first great medieval reformation of the Church and the Second Crusade, which he came to regret, to the crafting of his books, sermons, and letters. We see what brought Bernard to monastic life and how he founded Clairvaux Abbey, established a network of Cistercian monasteries across Europe, and helped his brethren monks and abbots in heresy trials, affairs of state, and the papal schism of the 1130s.By reevaluating Bernard's life and legacy through his own words and those of the people closest to him, McGuire reveals how this often-challenging saint saw himself and conveyed his convictions to others. Above all, this fascinating biography depicts Saint Bernard of Clairvaux as a man guided by Christian revelation and open to the achievements of the human spirit.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• History of religions
• Christianity

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 octobre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501751554
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

q BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX

Detail from a 1496 altarpiece depicting the crucifixion, from Esrum Abbey in Denmark. The detail is a scene based on Bernard's vision of the Amplexus, his embrace by Christ while praying before a crucifix. Photo: Jens Bruun, altertavler.dk. Courtesy of the National Museum of Denmark. Used by permission.

BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX AN I NNE R L I F E n

B r i a n Patr i c k M c G u i r e

CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESS Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2020 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. Visit our website at cornellpress.cornell.edu.

First published 2020 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Names: McGuire, Brian Patrick, author. Title: Bernard of Clairvaux : an inner life / by Brian Patrick McGuire. Description: Ithaca [New York] : Cornell University Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020005651 (print) | LCCN 2020005652 (ebook) | ISBN 9781501751042 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501751554 (pdf ) | ISBN 9781501751547 (epub) Subjects: LCSH: Bernard, of Clairvaux, Saint, 1090 or 10911153. | Christian saints—France—Biography. Classification: LCC BX4700.B5 M2538 2020 (print) | LCC BX4700.B5 (ebook) | DDC 271/.1202 [B]—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020005651 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/ 2020005652

Cover illustration:ClairvauxSaint Bernard of , German ca. 1470–1475; woodcut, handcolored in black, yellow, green, orange, gold, and red. Rosenwald Collection, National Gal lery of Art. Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

To my Cistercian friends

q  Co nte nts

Acknowledgments ix Chronology of Bernard’s Life and Times xi Note to the Reader xv Maps xvi

Introduction: In Pursuit of a Difficult Saint  1. A Time of Hope and Change  2. A Saint’s Origins  3. From the New Monastery to the Valley of Light, 1115–1124  4. Monastic Commitment and Church Politics, 1124–1129  5. Toward Reformation of Church and Monastery  6. Healing a Divided Church, 1130–1135  7. Victory and Defeat: A Conflicted Church, 1136–1140  8. The World after the Schism: One Thing after Another, 1140–1145  9. Preaching a Crusade and Leaving Miracles Behind, 1146–1150 10. Business as Usual in Preparing for Death

1 7 13

30

54

68 79

110

141

181

215

viii CONTENTS

Fifteen Questions about Bernard: The Background for My Portrait 251  1. What are the primary sources for the life of Bernard? 251  2. What can previous biographies of Bernard tell us? 255  3. How did Bernard relate to women? 266  4. How did Bernard relate to the body? 269  5. Can Bernard’s sexual identity be defined? 272  6. How did Bernard express his commitment as monk and abbot? 273  7. What was Bernard’s involvement in the Second Crusade? 277  8. Did Bernard show tolerance toward the Jews? 282  9. How did Bernard relate to Cîteaux’s abbot and to the Cistercian Order? 284 10. Bernard the monster? Returning to Peter Abelard and Gilbert de la Porrée 289 11. Bernard and Peter the Venerable: Friendship or rivalry? 291 12. How could Bernard praise monkknights? 295 13. Can Bernard’s liturgical sermons be used as sources for his inner life? 297 14. Did Bernard contribute to “the persecuting society”? 301 15. Was Bernard “a sick man living on his nerves”? 304 Notes 309 Sources and References 315 Index 351

q  A c k n o w l e d g m e nt s

This volume is the result of years of reading and thinking about Bernard of Clairvaux, and it would not have been possible without the support and inspiration of scholars such as Dom Jean Leclercq and Sir Richard Southern. Leclercq was kind and generous to me, while Sir Richard became a friend whom I will always miss. But I have also benefited from visits to TrappistCistercian abbeys, especially in the United States, but also in Ireland, England, Scotland, and Hong Kong. I think especially of the Cistercian brothers of Myrendal on the Danish island of Bornholm. Monks and nuns have made me welcome in their world and have shared their prayers and thoughts with me. The first to do so was Thomas Davis, formerly abbot of New Clairvaux in California, and he is one of many brothers who have been willing to share their thoughts and lives with me. I am also grateful to Bernard McGinn, professor emeritus of the Univer sity of Chicago, who was one of the readers of the original manuscript and here as in so much else in our friendship has provided me with helpful criti cisms and suggestions. I am in debt to Michael West Oborne, friend since the third grade at Saint Augustine’s School in Oakland, California, in 1956. Michael has taken me to innu merable medieval Cistercian sites and has an unfailing interest in monastic history. To my spouse of more than fifty years, Ann Kirstin Pedersen, I am thank ful for her infinite patience with a distracted husband and her love of Cister cian life and spirituality. I am also indebted to my friends E. Rozanne Elder and James France, who are fellow Cistercian scholars. Finally, I want to thank Peter Potter, formerly editor in chief at Cornell University Press, and his successor, Mahinder Kingra, for their support in seeing this manuscript grow from thought to fact. Also thanks to Mary Kate Murphy, for her superb editing.

Kandestederne, Skagen, Denmark, 20 August 2019 The feast of Saint Bernard

ix